ANKARA: A Ukrainian passenger on an Istanbul-bound flight claimed on Friday there was a bomb on board and tried to hijack the plane to Sochi, Russia, where the Winter Olympics were being kicking off, an official said.

According to NTV television, an F-16 fighter plane was scrambled as soon as the pilot signalled there was a hijacking attempt and escorted the plane to Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport.

Turkey’s state-run TRT television said authorities convinced the man to give himself up and he was taken into police custody, but there was no confirmation from the Transport Ministry.

There were 110 passengers on board the flight from Kharkiv, Ukraine, but it was not immediately clear if they had been evacuated.

Authorities were searching the plane.

Habib Soluk, the Turkish Transport Ministry undersecretary, told NTV that the man rose from his seat, shouted that there was bomb on board and tried to enter the locked cockpit.

The pilot signalled that there was a hijack attempt and the airport was placed on high alert.

“The man was made to believe the plane was heading to Sochi,” Soluk said. “We are hoping that the passengers are evacuated without even a nose-bleed.”

The Interfax news agency cited the Ukrainian Security Service, the country’s main security agency, as saying the passenger who tried to hijack the plane was in a state of severe alcohol intoxication.

Pegasus Airlines confirmed in a brief statement there was a “bomb threat” aboard their flight from Kharkiv.

The plane’s captain, Ilyas Karagulle, signalled that the crewmembers were well, according to state-run TRT television. —AP